Belgian tourist buried in Sagada

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The Sagada community on Tuesday, October 9, buried a long-time Belgian tourist who died by suicide in his homestay in the Mountain Province town. 

Rouben Marc was buried at the Community of St Mary the Virgin cemetery at Poblacion on Tuesday, two days after his body was discovered in his homestay in Sitio Datil, Patay village in the resort town. 

“The Embassy of Belgium appreciates the community of Sagada for the final rites done to their countryman,” the Sagada municipal government said. 

Marc was listed by the police as having come from Cape Town in Belgium, although there was no such place in Belgium. A Sagada resident who had met him said that Marc was born in Cape Town in South Africa and then settled in Belgium. He has a sister but she wasn’t able to come to the burial as Marc’s body was already decomposing at the time of discovery. 

Marc was discovered Sunday morning, October 7.

Police said that Lam-oy Busain, a neighbor, noticed that the door at the terrace of the second floor of the house, which Marc rented, had been open for the last two days. 

Busain texted the caretaker, Keithley Robles, to look into the matter. 

Robles went up the terrace and saw Marc’s body, then reported the matter to the police. 

According to a Facebook page of Sagada residents, this is the second case of a foreign tourist dying by suicide in Sagada. – Rappler.com